


Living In A Material World

by bastiankurts (orphan_account)



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:45:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1692128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bastiankurts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of brief chapters where Kurt is a well known fashion designer, and Sebastian is a model hired for important photoshoots. Includes brief appearances from other characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Morning After

**Author's Note:**

> First posted on tumblr in 2012, posting here for archive purposes. 
> 
> This was intended to become quite a large story a few years ago, but things happened, schedules got busier, and my interest in all things Glee (minus Sebastian and Kurt) continued to fade more and more. Considering that these days I only write brief pieces of fanfiction in between working on some original pieces of work, I felt that I should archive the pieces I had written for this au over here, so that if I were to ever return to it or feel like adding other little snapshots into the story, then I could do so easily. 
> 
> Don't expect this to follow the structure of a long chaptered story. Just take each chapter as a mini look in and drabble that exists in a larger alternative universe.

He rushed into work that morning, ignoring the looks of those workers around him and knowing that he was already running late enough as it was. He was trying to push the reason why he was so late to the back of his mind, but he couldn’t stop how his mind decided to keep reminding him of just what exactly the situation was that he found himself currently caught in. Nor could he ignore the way that he kept chanting one single word over and over again in his mind.

Fuck. Fuck.  _Fuck_.

It was the only word that Kurt could think of that could accurately explain in any way exactly what it was that he was thinking, feeling and living at that moment. That and one other word: simply  _why_? Why had he managed to find himself in such a ridiculous mess? What was it that his life had been turning into lately; some poorly constructed example of a romantic comedy? Only, Kurt himself couldn’t see neither the humorous side nor the romantic side in his current situation.

So lost in his own thoughts, Kurt almost didn’t notice as he quickly passed Blaine by, who was busy engaging in a conversation with Jesse at the computers near to Kurt’s office. Well, he was, until Blaine noticed Kurt had finally appeared and so decided to make his presence known.

“Kurt, hey – Kurt!”

Kurt froze on the spot for a moment then, before coming back to life and pulling the folder he was carrying up further underneath his arm, stopping the contents from falling to the ground. He turned, noticing how Blaine and Jesse were both now watching him similarly concerned looks, and Kurt stood straighter in response, not wanting it to seem too obvious that anything was bothering him.

“Good morning Blaine. Jesse.” Kurt answered, forcing a smile at the two of them. “Blaine, I need the rest of those designs that we talked about yesterday on my desk. I’m going to be looking over them and making a note of all the adjustments that we made. Jesse —” He paused, noticing out of the corner of his eye how Blaine watched him for a second before quickly nodding and hesitantly moving away. “I’ll talk to you in a little while about Rachel’s dress. As you can see, I happen to be just slightly tied up right this minute…” He gestured to the folder under his arm and the cup of coffee – bland in it’s flavour – which he was clasping tightly in his hand. Thankfully, Jesse simply nodded, and Kurt turned and continued to walk the short distance to his office, attempting to ignore the way that Jesse’s piercing stare bore into him as he continued to watch him walk away. 

Once inside his office, Kurt dumped his folder onto his desk with little care before setting the coffee down also. He let out a long sigh as a he sat down in his chair, looking down and glancing at the work that he had left out from the day before — various sketches, references and notes about the latest designs he was working on for the current photoshoot — before putting his head in his hands and letting out a groan of frustration. 

All he needed to do was to get through the day as he normally would. Once he did that, he could move on as if nothing out of the ordinary for him had ever happened. That was all. Get through things one step at a time, one _day_  at a time, acting as if he hadn’t majorly screwed up –

“Kurt?”

There was a soft knock at the door following the sound of the person who had softly spoken his name, and Kurt peered up at them through his hands. He was somewhat glad to see his friend standing there, although he was not so glad to notice the concerned look that still happened to grace his features. Of course Blaine would know something was up, of course. Kurt hoped however that he could play it off as just a bad morning though, although knowing that the probability of that actually working was very slim.

“I have those designs you asked for,” Blaine continued as Kurt buried his head in his hands again, noting the sound of the door clicking shut as he stepped further into the room. There was the sound of feet shuffling on the carpet before the sound grew silent once again, and Kurt knew that Blaine was standing in front of his small desk, watching him. “Kurt what -” 

“I screwed up.” He blurted out, suddenly interrupting Blaine.

A silence passed between them, and Kurt was surprised that he had even said anything himself. Hadn’t he decided to try and hide from the truth so far that morning? But at the same time, Kurt knew that if there was one person he really couldn’t hide from, one person who knew him better than anyone else – that person was none other than Blaine Anderson.

“Screwed up?” Blaine asked, the confusion evident in the tone of his voice. “How? With what?”

Another pause. And Kurt let out a long, drawn out sigh, before moving his head out of his hands to look up at Blaine. He didn’t want to talk about it, honestly, but Kurt assumed that he wouldn’t have much choice. After all, he was never successful at hiding things from his best friend.

“Sebastian.” He answered. “I screwed up with Sebastian.”

“Screwed up with Sebastian? But how?” Blaine asked again, his brow creasing into even more confusion as he placed the papers he was holding down into the nearby chair. “I thought that the two of you were getting along.”

“And we are! Or more – we  _were_ ,” Kurt groaned again, laying his head back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. “Everything was fine.”

“Then what happened then? Last I heard, you two were hanging out together last night. Something about a bar where neither of you would get spotted?” 

“And that’s exactly where things started to go wrong,” Kurt spun lightly on his chair, attention still stubbornly attached to the ceiling. Memories of the night before surfaced to the forefront of his mind again – already so difficult to forget but even more so now that he was actually talking about it all. He held of on continuing for a few more moments, before just deciding to hell with it and getting straight to the point. 

“I slept with him.”

Kurt tore his attention away from the ceiling in time to see Blaine’s reaction, noticing the way that the others eyes had grown wide at his confession. He knew that it wasn’t what Blaine had probably expected to hear, hell it wasn’t even what Kurt himself had expected to happen until it had actually happened, and he was mentally preparing himself for whatever it was that Blaine would say next.

“Wait, what?” The other asked eventually, and Kurt wanted to let out another groan. 

“I don’t know! It just sort of …  _happened_  I guess,” He began, shrugging his shoulders and avoiding the others gaze. “One minute we were both laughing and talking, having a good time along with a drink or two. Then– I don’t know! One thing led to another and then the next thing I know I’m waking up and he’s laying there next to me and I just – I realised I was late for work and I didn’t want to face things at that hour in the morning so I just left the apartment in a hurry and –“

“Wait wait wait,” Blaine interrupted, and Kurt looked up, noticing that the shock just continued to grow on his face. “You  _left him in your bed_  and  _ran here?_ ”

“Well what else was I going to do? I  _panicked_  Blaine!” His voice grew slightly louder then, and Kurt knew he had to calm down somewhat if he didn’t want anybody else around the workplace from finding out. But he couldn’t help the way that he was beginning to panic again, just at the very thought that oh god – Sebastian was still probably in his bed and that again, the night before had  _actually_   _happened_.

Kurt noticed then how Blaine’s expression seemed to change at his outburst however. How a small grin was threatening to break free upon his face, and Kurt narrowed his eyes in response. He knew exactly what that meant, and in response he pointed at the other with the pencil that he had picked up from his desk at some point earlier.

“ _No_ , Blaine. Whatever it is that you’re thinking right now, just no.” 

Blaine’s grin however didn’t waver; instead it only seemed to grow somewhat at his words. And Kurt didn’t like that one bit, nor did he very much like how much that grin was very much reminding him of a Cheshire cats right then.

“I said no,” he reiterated, watching how Blaine seemed to react. The others grin continued to grow, and Blaine moved his attention to taking one of the designs that Kurt had lying about on his desk, looking at it and feigning interest on what was on the page.

“You know…” Blaine spoke after a few moments, attention still locked on the paper. “I really don’t get what the problem is.”

At that, Kurt let out an exasperated sigh, flopping back in his chair once more as he rolled his eyes at the other.

“Really Blaine?  _Really?_ ” 

“Yeah. I mean, if you guys like each other -” 

“Let me stop you right there Blaine Anderson,” Kurt interrupted. “First off, we do not ‘like each other’. Or at least not in the way that I know you’re suggesting. We’re … some odd version of what you may call friends, perhaps, yes, but that’s as far as it goes. What happened between Sebastian and I last night was just sex, nothing more. No strings, no feelings attached sex. And secondly -” He paused for a second to set his pencil down on the table once again. “This is most definitely  _not_  a good thing. I don’t sleep with the models I hire Blaine, you know that. You know my thoughts on it. If word gets out about this then the reputation I’ve built for myself is ruined. Regardless of whether it was Sebastian I slept with or not.”

“Kurt, I think you might be blowing this a little bit out of proportion -”

“No, I’m really not,” Kurt said, shaking his head as he did so. He knew exactly what would happen if knowledge of what had happened between him and Sebastian managed to fall into the hands of the wrong people, and he also knew very well that he wasn’t overreacting about it. “We’ve both read those stories Blaine. It’s bad enough that there’s a stigma attached to this industry regarding sex, and this won’t help. If word of this gets out –“

“It won’t get out, Kurt,” Blaine interrupted, his voice calm. Kurt couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at him, and he watched as Blaine moved from where he was in front of Kurt to instead stand beside him. “How is it going to get out? I’m not going to tell anyone, and you haven’t told anyone else, have you?”

“Of course I haven’t. When would I have had the time to do that even if I wanted to?” Kurt crossed his arms across his chest then. “And I know you wouldn’t spread this, but how do I know that Sebastian won’t tell someone?”

“Because Sebastian has his own image to uphold,” Blaine answered as if it was the simplest response in the world. Kurt turned to look at him, biting at his lower lip in his anxious state. “Kurt, you and I both know how difficult it was to get Sebastian for this photoshoot. I told you when you first decided that you wanted him for it that it was near impossible to get him because he’s in such high demand. He’s not going to spread anything about his personal life that would jeopardise what it is that he’s built for himself. In that sense, he’s rather like you when it comes to his career it seems.”

Kurt scoffed at that, but didn’t say anything. Somewhere in his mind he knew that Blaine had a point, that their would be no reason for what had happened to become the next piece of gossip for the world if it hadn’t already. Kurt certainly wasn’t going to proclaim it to the world, and he highly doubted that Sebastian would either. Well, he hoped he wouldn’t at least. Somewhere inside himself however Kurt couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation. A feeling that somehow told him that he could trust in Sebastian, and that deep down, he wanted to trust him. Sure, Sebastian had a way of winding Kurt up in a way that no other person could or was able to do so, and he knew exactly what buttons to press in order to get Kurt to react in a certain way, but Kurt felt that Sebastian would never do anything intentionally that would ultimately harm him or what he’d it was built around him. They were after all strangely friends  … weren’t they?

But even with that thought in mind, Kurt couldn’t help but still believe that what had happened the night before had been a mistake, something that he couldn’t and wouldn’t allow to happen between them again. They’d been lucky that they had both gone unnoticed – something that Kurt was still somewhat surprised about given both Sebastian’s high popularity and how Kurt’s own name in fashion had been growing as of late — but now it was time to be cautious once again. Kurt’s job was his main priority, and he had put so much work into building it to where it was now that he wasn’t about to take any risk’s that could cause him to loose it all. Not to mention that Kurt was still honestly confused about it all, and what everything was supposed to mean now.

Blaine seemed to understand that Kurt was taking the time thinking to himself about everything, and so rested a hand onto the others thigh in a comforting matter. Kurt pulled himself out of his thoughts at the action to look down at it, before turning his head to instead look at where Blaine was still kneeling beside him.

“Talk to him about it later,” Blaine spoke, a reassuring smile tugging at his lips. The words however didn’t help to settle Kurt’s already raging mind. No, instead it just reminded him of yet another fact that he had let slip from his mind in the middle of all his panic.

“Oh my god, I forgot that he’s coming in because we didn’t get to finish with yesterday’s work,” Kurt replied, bringing one of his hands up to rest against his forehead. “Perfect. Fan-freaking-tastic.”

“How did you even manage to forget that little detail?” Blaine asked, a hint of humour laced into the tone of his voice. The question was rhetorical, and after taking a moment to look at Kurt then, he continued. “If you think it’s really that bad though, I can always phone Sebastian and tell him not to come in this afternoon. I can tell him that you’re busy with an emergency client?”

Kurt took in a deep breath, pulling his hand away from his face as he sat up straight in his chair. He thought about Blaine’s idea, but instantly knew that although he was thankful for the suggestion and the option to escape if he so desired, there was no way that he would choose to do that. Kurt simply wasn’t one to run away from the things that required his attention, especially when it came to his work, and if it meant dealing with an awkward situation that he had somewhat created for himself to do that, then fine. He’d just have to deal with it.

“No,” He answered finally, somewhat calmer than what he had been before. “No we’re not cancelling or lying about anything. For one, we don’t have the time as it is to put these things off; you know how busy we are. Also – it’ll just make things worse if we keep walking around the problem. And I don’t want that right now. It’s not worth it.” Kurt paused, turning his attention to Blaine and noticing how the other was looking up at him from where he was still knelt by his side. He appreciated that Blaine was more focused on how he felt right then, but Kurt didn’t need the concern. What he needed was to continue as normal, not to make things more awkward. “I’ll talk to him later perhaps, if the opportunity arises.”

“I would,” Blaine replied, squeezing Kurt’s thigh lightly before removing his hand. “I’ll know if you don’t, because of the giant elephant that’ll be between you both whenever you’re in the same room together.”

“Ha ha,” Kurt rolled his eyes then as Blaine got up off the ground. He picked up the coffee he had brought earlier, realising that he really hadn’t drunk enough yet to really start the amount of work he had to get through that day. “Go and do your work Blaine, you’ve got your gossip now.” He smirked, before wincing as he remembered how bland the coffee actually was.

“You want a new one of them?” Blaine asked, nodding his head in the direction of the cup. 

“Please,” Kurt asked, pushing the cup back on the table as he continued to pull a face about the taste. “This one is definitely no Starbucks. Can you also tell Jesse to give me five minutes before we take another look at Rachel’s dress? I know he’s still waiting outside.”

“Of course,” Blaine answered, and Kurt couldn’t help but grin at the light blush that appeared on the others cheeks at the mention of Jesse’s name. He turned his attention to his designs however to hide his grin, quickly scribbling down about the newest adjustments that had been made on the paper he was working on. He could feel the way that Blaine watched him for a second, and without lifting his eyes from his work he spoke up again. “Blaine, I’m fine. You don’t need to hover there.”

“Right, right. Sorry.” Blaine replied, shaking his head. He picked up the coffee that Kurt had brought and turned to walk away, stopping when he opened the door to look back at Kurt once more. After a moment, he left, shutting the door behind him as he did so. 

Once he was sure Blaine had definitely left – the sound of the door clicking shut again indicating just that – Kurt looked up, before letting out a sigh and putting his pencil back down on the table. He still didn’t really know how he was going to face Sebastian later that day; he only knew that he had to. But it wasn’t something he was going to focus on too much that morning at least. There was enough going on throughout the day as it was, what with Rachel’s dress, preparing for the photoshoot and all the other work that everyone was rushing around with sorting out before the big fashion show in a couple of weeks time. He honestly couldn’t afford to be too distracted away from his schedule.

Still, Kurt couldn’t help but reach into his pocket where he had shoved his phone in his haste earlier that morning, wanting to check his messages while he had a moments to himself. As soon as he loaded up the screen he saw that he had a few new unopened: one from Rachel telling him that she would be in just before lunchtime to see how her dress was coming along for herself, two from Blaine from earlier that morning checking to see why he wasn’t in work at his usual time and making sure that Kurt was alright, and a few more from familiar names he recognised but couldn’t exactly pinpoint why. 

But it was the three newest messages that caught Kurt’s main attention, all of them from the same sender. Sebastian. He knew that for them to be there it meant that Sebastian had woken up and found out by then that he was alone at Kurt’s apartment, but Kurt wasn’t sure what to expect from them. He wasn’t sure what Sebastian was even thinking at that moment in time, if he shared the same thoughts of what had happened as himself or if his own opinion was different. And Kurt felt a slight twisting sensation in the pit of stomach at the thought that he couldn’t quite put a name to, a feeling that made him anxious for some reason, and that made him decide that he wasn’t actually sure that he wanted to find out what it was that Sebastian was thinking. 

Instead, he decided to set his phone down on the desk, turning his attention to glance at the designs that littered his desk before moving to look through them, searching for the sketched version of Rachel’s dress for when Jesse would appear in his office shortly.

Those three messages remained unopened.


	2. Take A Chance On Me

“It’s a little … tight.”   
  
Kurt sighed, watching as Rachel spun around slowly, looking at herself in the dress through the mirrors that were in the room. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking at his work and trying to determine just what, exactly, was wrong.   
  
“It’s supposed to be a little tight, Rachel. That’s the way that it’s been designed. The question is, is it so tight that it’s pinching? Uncomfortable?”   
  
Rachel stopped moving, looking at herself in the mirror once more while she made a thoughtful humming sound. Kurt rolled his eyes, wanting to react at his friends’ indecisiveness over what he had asked her. But, no. He was a professional – or a budding one at least – and he respected people to a point. He would not for any reason take out his own mood on someone else who was entirely innocent.   
  
“I’m not really sure. How can you tell if it’s too tight? This  _is_  for the award show after all, and I don’t want to get through half the night only to then find that it is uncomfortable. That would be a complete disaster! No, everything has to go perfectly.”   
  
“Can you just, stop, complaining. The dress is fine and your voice? Really getting on my nerves right now.”   
  
That. Now that was the voice of someone whom Kurt was annoyed with. He watched as Rachel’s face seemed to puff up somewhat in her own distaste at the others words, obviously not happy at all with the outburst, nor caring for a second opinion that was unwanted.   
  
Sebastian had turned up earlier than was expected, and his presence was driving Kurt up the wall. For one, he was just hanging around him, adding in his opinion every here and there as Kurt busied himself with his work, only each comment was just as unwanted as the one he had given to Rachel. Second, and probably most infuriating in Kurt’s opinion, was that Sebastian was acting as if everything was completely normal between them both. As if they hadn’t ended up sleeping together just the night before. And Kurt found it completely unbelievable, not to mention that it was really grating on his last nerve.   
  
He had originally planned to do the same - act as normal as he could and move along with his life - but he found that it was a lot more difficult than he originally thought. And since his earlier talk with Blaine and actually seeing Sebastian again after his hasty escape from his own apartment that morning, Kurt discovered just how difficult it really was. But yet to see Sebastian achieve it so easily was just enough to bother him somewhat. And so in response, Kurt had decided to pay little attention to the other man – knowing that it would eventually bother Sebastian with just how much he loved being the center of attention – and he had also decided not to be the one to bring up the topic of what had happened between them, regardless of whether or not Blaine thought it was for the best. What was even the point in doing so, if Sebastian seemed to so easily slip into his normal way of life without even a flicker of any of the confusion or rush of emotions that Kurt himself couldn’t stop himself from feeling.   
  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that there were two designers in the room,” Rachel sharply replied, putting her hands on her hips as she turned to face Sebastian then. Kurt noticed how Sebastian only seemed to raise an eyebrow in amusement, before moving from where he was leaning against the wall to stand up straight. Kurt rolled his eyes as he realized what was about to happen, deciding that he really wasn’t in any mood to deal with any of it.   
  
“You don’t need to be a designer to notice when a dress is fine sweetheart.”   
  
“As if you would know. You’re a model, you’re constantly being stuffed into clothes that are tight fitting and made to just deal with it,” Rachel shot back.   
  
“I can assure you, if anything were too uncomfortable I would have something to say about it.” Sebastian crossed his arms then, letting out what appeared to be a tired sigh. “It’s exhausting standing here and watching you pull the queen diva act over a dress.”   
  
“Then don’t stand there. No one is asking you to watch.”   
  
“No ones asking me to leave either.”   
  
“Well they are now. Get out.”   
  
Sebastian smirked then, shaking his head. “It’s not your place to tell me to leave or not. You’re just a client.”   
  
“Oh for the love of – would you two just stop it?” Kurt interrupted just as Rachel was about to reply. Both her and Sebastian stopped arguing, instead turning their attention to Kurt who was standing between them. Kurt shot a quick glare in Sebastian’s direction for a second, remembering just how annoyed he was with him himself before turning back to look at Rachel instead. “Just ignore him Rachel. If you don’t respond, he’ll get bored and hopefully walk off somewhere else.”   
  
“Ouch,” came Sebastian’s reply, but Kurt continued to ignore him, instead pulling at some of the pins that he had been holding.

“Now back to the matter of your dress, how does it feel? Only you can tell if it feels comfortable enough or not.”

For the next half hour Kurt and Rachel worked together adjusting things about the dress, Jesse coming in half way through and noting down the changes that they made so that Kurt could use them later. Sebastian however continued to stand to the side, quiet after what he had said with Rachel and just watching as the others worked. Kurt could feel the way that his attention seemed to focus on him however, the way that his spine seemed to tingle as Sebastian stared. He attempted not to let it seem like it fazed him however, instead throwing all of his own attention on the dress at hand. He knew that he’d have to deal with Sebastian sooner or later – well, more sooner, what with the fact he would be working with him once he’d finished with Rachel – but he continued on all the same.

When their work was finished and the dress fitted just as it should, Rachel said her thanks to Kurt, telling him that she would still expect to see him at the event if he could find the time in which to do so. Kurt just forced a smile at both her and Jesse, telling her to enjoy herself before the two of them decided to leave. He realized once they had gone that he was alone with Sebastian once again for the first time since their last encounter and that Sebastian was still standing in the same spot that he had been during the fitting. Kurt took him a deep breath, plucking up whatever courage he had then before walking over to the desk in the room, gathering up the few papers that he had brought with him.

“We should hurry if we want to get everything done in time,” He spoke as he shoved the papers violently into the folder, still not looking at the other as he did. “Blaine and the other models are probably already there and waiting for us -”

“Kurt.”

The sound of his name had Kurt freezing in what he was doing, and he could hear the soft sound of Sebastian’s shoes on the carpet as he took a few steps towards him. After a second however Kurt shook his head, continuing on with what he was doing.

“They’re probably wondering where we are and -”

“Kurt,” Sebastian said again, and it was enough for Kurt to throw the folder he was sorting onto the desk in his annoyance before turning to face him.

 _“What?”_  He asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice then. He tried to ignore the way that they other was watching him, wanting to immediately dismiss any thoughts he was having as he noticed how Sebastian seemed to search him for a moment, as if he was trying to determine just exactly was going on within Kurt’s mind.

“What’s with you today?” He asked, his brow creasing in Kurt assumed was a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Nothing.” He replied, letting out sigh as he broke his gaze. Sebastian continued to watch him however, and Kurt felt that tingling feeling from earlier run down his spine once more.

“Sure,” Sebastian spoke, the sarcasm evident in his tone of voice. “So you _haven’t_  been attempting to ignore me ever since I got here. And when you _have_  decided to notice me, you _haven’t_  jumped down my throat at whatever chance you found.”

“Well how do you expect me to react?” Kurt shot back then, feeling very defensive all of a sudden. “You come in here, with your sarcastic jokes and unwanted opinion as if nothing has changed. As if everything was as normal as it could possibly be. And what, you expect me to just act the same?”

Understanding dawned across Sebastian’s face then, and he let out a sigh before replying.

“This is about last night isn’t it? You’re upset about what happened.”

“Of course I’m fucking upset!” Kurt answered, forgetting and not really caring for how the volume of his voice raised then. “Last night was a mistake, one I don’t intend to make again. But even with that, I’d prefer if you at least acknowledged it happened instead of just acting like it didn’t!”

Kurt turned around then, picking up his folder from before and shoving the last few remaining papers into it.

“What do you expect me to do? Walk in while you were busy fitting Rachel’s dress and sing ‘I’ve just had sex’ at the top of my voice? Somehow, I doubt you’d very much appreciate that either.”

“Don’t,” Kurt warned, turning around once he was finished and pointing his finger at the other. “Don’t try and cover this with sarcastic comments.”

“There’s just no pleasing you,” Sebastian said in exasperation, rolling his eyes as he did so. “One minute you’re ignoring my existence completely, and then the next you’re upset with me because I apparently didn’t react the way you wanted over something. It’s not like I didn’t try to talk to you earlier either. I called you like, twice before I got here and sent you a bunch of texts too. You were the one that decided to ignore them all.”

“Yes well, I don’t know if you’ve managed to notice, but I’ve been somewhat busy,” Kurt answered.

“And you couldn’t just say that? Is a message of ‘hey, can’t talk busy right now’ too difficult for you to send?” 

“I thought it would be pretty obvious if someone were busy if they couldn’t answer their own phone.”

The stared at each other then, almost as if they were challenging one another, before eventually Kurt sighed. Looking away, he shook his head before speaking again.

“Whatever,” He said; tightening his grip on the folder he was holding before moving past Sebastian so that he could walk out of the room. As much as they probably should be talking, Kurt didn’t particularly favor the way they were stuck in a circle with the current conversation.

“Do you really regret it?”

The question made Kurt stop in his tracks then. He had not been expecting Sebastian to ask that and he was surprised to find that the question made him question himself. Did he regret it? It was easy to say that he did to other people, but did Kurt actually really think and believe that himself? He had allowed what happened between them to happen after all, so that had to mean something … right? There was still something clouding over that point however, that still tried to tell than that the whole idea of sleeping with Sebastian was wrong and that it shouldn’t have happened to begin with, and Kurt couldn’t stop how that cloud made him question the decision in the first place. He realized then that he wouldn’t be able to answer Sebastian truthfully because he wasn’t actually sure what the answer was himself, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to think too deeply about it. He wasn’t sure what path thinking that way would eventually lead to. 

After getting over his brief split second moment of shock, Kurt straightened his shoulders, before turning around to look at the other. Sebastian was watching him, almost anxiously, and Kurt knew that he was waiting for a reply.

“It shouldn’t have happened regardless of if I do or not,” He replied, the volume of his voice having lowered from before. “It was too much of a risk.”

Sebastian seemed to frown at that, and Kurt noticed him tense somewhat at his words.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Like you don’t know,” Kurt answered. But Sebastian just continued to stare at him, and Kurt understood then that Sebastian really _didn’t_  understand. He wasn’t sure if that seemed to annoy him more or not, but he let out a sigh all the same before continuing. “Look, I don’t know if you make it a ‘thing’ to sleep with the people you work for or not, but I  _don’t_. I don’t make it a habit to sleep with the models I hire. I never did before you, and I certainly don’t intend to do it again. It’s too much of a risk that could potentially end up damaging my career. Not to mention the career of whoever else is involved.”

“That’s what you’re worried about? Your reputation?”

Sebastian grew upset at that, and he rolled his eyes before taking a step forward so that he was closer to Kurt. Kurt found that he couldn’t move, and nor could he look away from the other, the both of them looking at each other. And something within Kurt twisted, a weird sort of feeling that he couldn’t quite describe, couldn’t understand. 

“Kurt,” Sebastian began, almost urgent in his tone, as if it was of some sort of importance to him that Kurt understood exactly what it was he was about to say. “I would never put your career in jeopardy for a quick fuck. _Never._  You have to believe me when I say that.” He paused, and Kurt continued to watch, waiting to hear what else the other had to say. “And I don’t sleep around. I got as far as I have in my career by my own means, not by fucking the first person in power. I can promise you that it’s all down to hard work for me. Well, that and my pretty face helps.”

Kurt rolled his eyes, but he was unable to stop the way that an ever so small smile began to tug at his lips at Sebastian’s attempt to lighten to conversation with his comment. The hint of a smile was enough for Sebastian to smile himself, and feeling that it was all right to do so, he ever so carefully put his hands on the Kurt’s shoulders.

“I get it. I get the worry you have with your reputation, and how you want to work hard to make a name for yourself. What, you think I haven’t noticed how hard you work around here?” Sebastian’s smile grew ever so slightly then, whilst Kurt raised an eyebrow in response. “What happened last night – it didn’t happen as an attempt to try and rob that from you. And if it means anything – it wasn’t a regret for me.”

Kurt watched the other for a moment then, Sebastian’s words sinking into his mind. They confused him somewhat, and Kurt found that that indescribable feeling that he had been feeling earlier lurched back with a vengeance, and that he was suddenly very anxious as to what possibly Sebastian could mean with his words. What the real truth behind them actually was. 

“So what was it then?” Kurt found himself asking. 

His attention remained fixed on Sebastian, wondering in his mind what the others answer would be. Sebastian continued to watch him for a moment, searching his expression as if trying to find any sort of hesitation from Kurt. Kurt couldn’t understand why, and he was about to open his mouth to say something more when suddenly Sebastian moved forward slightly. And Kurt continued to watch him, noticing how the distance between them seemed to close slightly, and not missing the way that Sebastian’s gaze dropped to look at his lips. And before he knew it the other was leaning in, kissing him softly, almost delicately. Kurt was stunned, his eyes wide in shock at the suddenness of it all, trying to settle the way that his stomach seemed to erupt into a sensation of butterflies being set free. But then he calmed slightly, the tension that had build up calming and Kurt couldn’t help how his eyes fluttered closed as he relaxed into the kiss. It was enough for Sebastian to understand that he was comfortable with it, that he wasn’t going to push him away and so he moved his hand to cup Kurt’s cheek then, still kissing him as he did so.

Eventually, Sebastian pulled away slightly, leaving Kurt somewhat breathless and dumbfounded as to what had just unraveled. 

“Does that answer your question?”

At the sound of the others voice, Kurt looked up at Sebastian, blinking for a moment as it really settled into his mind that they had just kissed. Sebastian had kissed him, at work, in the middle of the empty room. And it had just felt so completely natural for him to kiss back. Like he was meant to respond to it as easily as he had.

But then reality sunk in and a thousand thoughts rushed through Kurt’s mind, all the worries and uncertainties that had been there before floated to surface. Sebastian must have noticed it somehow, as he moved back slightly from where he was still standing close to Kurt, watching him before speaking once more.

“Kurt … I – I like you alright?” Sebastian said, and Kurt turned his attention to him, startled at how forward his words had been. “I like you _a lot_. Sure you drive me insane most of the time, and you can be a royal bitch when you really want to be, but all of that – I like it because it’s part of you. I don’t regret last night because I can’t. There’s absolutely no reason to.”

He stepped forward again then, moving his hand to intertwine with the others and Kurt looked down to watch, feeling a lump begin to form at the back of his throat. At the others words he suddenly understood what his own feelings – the ones he had been trying to ignore and push aside – he understood what they meant. But they didn’t help to settle his worries. In fact, it just made him worry more. Kurt knew that this was a risk, a big risk. One that could end up costing him everything he’d worked so hard to build. But at the same time, it could eventually lead to something better. He was lost, confused, battling his own emotions, and suddenly he found himself shaking his head in return.

“We shouldn’t do this,” He spoke, but he didn’t even convince himself with his words. 

“Why shouldn’t we?” Sebastian asked, and Kurt looked up to find how close the other was then. Too close, and he suddenly had the temptation to kiss him again, watching the way that the other was looking at his lips again as if thinking exactly the same thing too. 

“If we get caught – the scandal -”

“Would be worth it, in my opinion.” Sebastian interrupted, pausing for a second before turning his gaze from Kurt’s lips to his eyes. “But I won’t ruin jeopardize your career Kurt. Just like I know you won’t mine. I would never.”

Kurt thought then, not knowing whether to listen to his head or his heart. Somewhere deep inside him he could hear a voice telling him to take the risk, and with the way the other was looking at him then he knew that although Sebastian could be the most irritating person he knows most of the time, he was also not a liar. And that he also did care in his own way, and that he only ever said things that he didn’t mean. 

“I hope that I never regret this,” He answered finally, before moving in to close the distance between the two of them and pressing his lips against Sebastian’s. Kurt felt the others arms wrap tightly around his waist then, holding him close as he kissed him back, and he also noted the way that Sebastian smirked into the kiss, finding the time to reply with two simple words.

“You won’t.”


End file.
